Jewelry artist Crysta Durden was born in New Hampshire, but her family relocated to the South when she was just 3 years old.
Crysta’s creativity was sparked at an early age by her mother who, herself, came from a long line of creative people — Crysta comes by it honestly. Her family started a craft business when Crysta was a teenager and she often helped at the various craft fairs they attended. Though mainly a wood-working business, Crysta’s family also worked in jewelry along the way.
Crysta’s first jewelry pieces were made using a medium of Chaulk Ware and handmade molds created by her Aunt Kris just for this purpose.
Growing up, Crysta never wanted to be “cookie-cutter” when it came to style. Her mother taught her to sew at a young age, and she often made some of her own clothes just so she wouldn’t match anyone else. Crysta even won an Honorable Mention for a quilt she entered in the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum (Athens, Tennessee) 11th Annual Quilt Show in February 1993.
As Crysta’s interest in unique jewelry grew, she collected several one-of-a-kind pieces that were acquired through her Aunt Kris.
At one point in time, Aunt Kris worked for a jewelry company, but eventually made her own creations at home for herself and family — she referred to it as “relaxing therapy.”
In 2001, Aunt Kris decided to take a break from making jewelry and sent Crysta a 6-pound box of assorted beads and other supplies. Soon after, Crysta began creating simple-design pieces and learned more over time thanks to a lot of little notes and lots of phone calls from Aunt Kris.
Sadly Aunt Kris passed away in January 2007, but her style and inspiration lives on, carried forth by Crysta.
Making jewelry started as a hobby, but Crysta enjoyed it so much that it grew into much more. Eventually, Crysta began to feel more confident in her jewelry-making ability and shared pieces with family and friends.
That’s when two of her best friends, Thomas and Autumn Nelson, offered to help Crysta start a Web site. From there, Crysta’s Creations was born.
As a featured artist, Crysta offers several of her creations for purchase in a museum and a popular tattoo shop in Tennessee. She has also been hired to create personalized pieces for friends and special occasions. Crysta has even had a trunk sale of her very own.
“I hope you enjoy looking through my one-of-a-kind creations on this great site. I also invite you to take a few moments to read and sign my guestbook.”